Psalms 48

Psalms 48:1

Psalm 48: What Did They See?A foreign invader had come up to the very gates of Jerusalem. Inside, the people were expecting the agonies of a long siege. Humanly speaking, the prospects were bleak. Then the Lord worked a miracle. The enemy saw something that threw them into utter panic. They retreated in terror. Jerusalem was preserved from destruction, and a great wave of praise went up to God. Psalms 48 captures something of the ecstasy of that moment. 48:1, 2 The LORD is inexpressibly great. He is great in power, in knowledge, in glory, in grace. His love is great, and His mercy, and His compassion. He is great in wisdom and in knowledge. His judgments are unsearchable and His ways inscrutable. Because God is so great, He is greatly to be praised. He is worthy to be praised as the great Creator, the great Sustainer, the great Prophet, the great High Priest, the King of all kings, the great Redeemer, and the great Deliverer of His people. Here in Psalms 48 it is His greatness as the Savior and Protector of His city and His people that is especially in view. The people speak of God and the city of God in the same breath. They associate the city with the God who dwelt there in the inner shrine of the temple. To them Jerusalem is the most beautiful city in the world, situated on the summit of His holy mountain. Like a gem in a handsome crown, it is beautiful in its elevationthe jewel of the whole earth. Sometimes known as Mount Zion (after one of the eminences in the city) Jerusalem is described as being “in the far north” or “on the sides of the north.” Both Knox and Gelineau translate this phrase as “the true pole of the earth.” Jerusalem is truly this in the eyes of God’s ancient people; it is the center of magnetic attraction, the place toward which they gravitate as the religious, political and cultural capital of the world. And it is the city of the great King, the future capital of the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns to earth to reign as King of kings. 48:3 Inside her walls God has proved Himself a trustworthy Defender. Everyone knows how He miraculously rescued the city when her destruction seemed momentary. Here is what happened: 48:4 The enemy forces had massed their troops outside the city. In overwhelming hordes they took up their positions in preparation for the assault. Militarily the city had little hope of holding out against such a concentration of armed strength. 48:5 Then the attackers saw something that unnerved them. What did they see? Was it the city of Jerusalem, as seems indicated in the text? It seems unlikely that the mere sight of such a small city would cause professional military men to panic. It may be that the curtain between them and the invisible world was drawn back, and that they saw an army of angels poised to defend the city. Or was the mountain filled with horses and chariots of fire (see 2Ki_6:17)? Or did they see the angel of the Lordthe Lord Jesus Christ in one of His preincarnate appearances? (See Isa_37:36.) 48:6, 7 Frankly, we do not know. But whatever it was, it was an apparition of such terrifying nature that the stout-hearted warriors lost their courage. The sight threw them into panic. Pandemonium broke out in the camp. They beat a hasty retreat, trembling as they went. Their anguish was comparable to that of a woman in the pangs of childbirth. The chaos and disorder among the enemy invaders was like the scattering of an ocean-going fleet when struck by a hurricane. 48:8 The people inside the city are now delirious with joy. What seemed like imminent disaster for them has been turned to miraculous victory. They had always heard in the past that God was the Founder and Defender of Jerusalem; now they have seen with their own eyes. “We have proved what long has been told usthat God upholds the city forever” (Knox). 48:9-11 So they lift their hearts in praise to God. They have had abundant reason to meditate on the lovingkindness of the Lord as they went up to the temple with their thank-offerings. They reflect that wherever God’s name is known in the earth, there He is praised as the One whose right hand is filled with righteous victory. They call on Jerusalem to celebrate and on the lesser cities of Judah to be glad. 48:12-14 Now they are walking around the city in a sort of post-victory tour. They encourage one another to count the number of towers (every one of them is still there), to consider her bulwarks (they are all intact), and to walk through the now-deserted palaces (just as undamaged as they were before the enemy arrived). It will be a wonderful story to share with their children and grandchildrenhow God supernaturally preserved Jerusalem from the slightest damage! They will teach the new generation that the God who did this is “our God for ever and ever. He will be our guide even to death.“Someone has beautifully suggested that verse 14 could be rendered: This God is our God from eternity to eternity. He will be our guide even unto death, over death, and beyond death.